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Wrotham
Wrotham ( ) is a village situated on the Pilgrims' Way in Kent, at the foot of the North Downs. It is located one mile north of Borough Green and approximately five miles east of Sevenoaks. It is within the junction of the M20 and M26 motorways. The name first occurs as Uurotaham in the year 788; it means 'homestead of a man called Wrōta.'A.D. Mills, Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names (Oxford University Press, 1998; ISBN 0192800744), p. 394. The village has a high number of pubs; there are three within a hundred yards of each other. They are The Rose and Crown, The George and Dragon and The Bull Inn. There is a separate village called Wrotham Heath about two miles to the south-east. Close by is the Wrotham transmitting station, which was the first transmitter in the UK to broadcast on FM in 1955, and now carries the main national FM radio frequencies for most of London. Wrotham shows extensive signs of occupation by the Romans, and it has been claimed that the Wrotham Pinot, a disease-resistant variety of the Pinot noir grape found in Wrotham churchyard, is descended from vines brought by the Romans. Governance Wrotham is in the parliamentary constituency of Tonbridge and Malling. Since the constituency's creation in 1974, its Member of Parliament has been Sir John Stanley of the Conservative Party. The village is within the local government district of Tonbridge and Malling, and comprises the local government ward of Wrotham. This ward has 1 of the 53 seats on the Tonbridge & Malling District Borough Council. As of November 2007, the seat was held by the Conservative, Martin Coffin. Tonbridge & Malling District Borough Council is responsible for running local services, such as recreation, refuse collection and council housing; while Kent County Council is responsible for education, social services and trading standards. Both councils are involved in town planning and road maintenance. A 2008 report showed that Wrotham has experienced one of the greatest deteriorations of basic services, losing the most amenities in the previous four years. Demography As of the 2001 UK census, the Wrotham ward had a population of 1,815. The village had 759 households; of which, 42% were married couples, 29% were individuals, 9% were cohabiting couples, and 6% were lone parent families. 20% of households had someone at pensionable age living alone. The ethnicity of the village was given as 99.2% white, 0.66% mixed race, and 0.16% Black. The place of birth of the town's residents was 95.9% United Kingdom (92.0% England), 0.4% Republic of Ireland, 0.8% other Western Europe, 0.4% Eastern Europe, 1.0% Africa, 0.8% Asia, 0.4% North America and 0.3% elsewhere. Religion was recorded as 74.81% Christian, 0.44% Jewish, 0.22% Buddhist, 0.17% Muslim and 0.17% Sikh. 15.46% were recorded as having no religion, 0.33% had an alternative religion, and 8.42% did not state their religion. Economy As of the 2001 UK census, 39.5% of the village's residents aged 16–74 were employed full-time, 12.9% employed part-time, 14.1% self-employed and 1.6% unemployed, while 1.9% were students with jobs, 3.4% students without jobs, 14.3% retired, 8.0% looking after home or family, 2.5% permanently sick or disabled and 1.9% economically inactive for other reasons. Compared to national figures, the village had a low rate of unemployment, and a high proportion of self-employed workers. Employment by industry was 16% retail; 14% real estate; 13% manufacturing; 10% construction; 8% health and social work; 8% education; 7% transport and communications; 5% finance; 5% hotels and restaurants; 3% public administration; 3% agriculture; 1% energy and water supply; and 6% other. Compared to national figures, Wrotham had a high percentage of workers in agriculture; energy and water supply; hotels and restaurants; and construction. It had a low percentage in health and social work; and public administration. According to Office for National Statistics estimates, the average gross income of households in Wrotham between April 2001 and March 2002 was £770 per week (£40,000 per year). Local Businesses The village has several local businesses: :The George and dragon public house :Hardens Grocery :Village Hair :M.J Leech :The Wrotham Shop :The Rose and Crown Public House :Apex :Perrys Solicitors :Languages @ Lanacos :The Bull Hotel :Vine House Interiors References External links Category:Villages in Kent Category:Market towns in Kent